1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to skid constructions for moving heavy objects, such as refrigerators, ranges, freezers, filing cabinets and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a skid construction which is permanently mounted on the base of the object and functions both as a support for the object to prevent damage to the floor beneath, and in turn provides a skid for sliding the object easily from its usual resting place without damaging the floor covering.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rollers and casters of various types and styles are incorporated either in the original manufacture of an object, or are attached separately to the object to provide both support and movability to the supported object, such as appliances and furniture. Although these rollers and casters have been satisfactory in the past for their intended purpose, a need has been created due to the change in the popular styles of floor coverings and in the changes in furniture and appliance manufacture, for a means to prevent the present rollers and casters from damaging modern-day floor coverings. Likewise, there is a need to facilitate the ease in moving these heavy objects which is lacking in many of the known roller and caster constructions.
The refrigerator as an example, has developed from a 4 to 6 cu. ft. capacity to double or triple this capacity, with a freezer section capable of holding several hundred pounds of frozen food and meat. Likewise, furniture styles have emerged from lightweight dainty-leg styles to heavy, bulky, legless structures which the average person has extreme difficulty in moving on the modern types of floor covering.
Floor covering (carpet) has developed from a fine woven hard-type surface to a softer tufted type of thicker body. Likewise, tile and linoleum have developed from a hard surface, brittle type to a softer cushioned type having a soft backing and a somewhat soft impressionable top surface. The underlayment (padding) also has developed from a hard-hair type to a thick, rubber or urethane, super-soft fabric which causes such heavy appliances and furniture to bury themselves into the soft floor covering and rendering them immobile, even with casters or rollers attached. The casters and rollers tend to increase the immobility of the supported object since they become seated or partially buried in the floor covering due to the extreme concentrated weight compressing the soft covering.
Such soft floor coverings are used extensively today in living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and basements of the modern home, as well as in offices, churches, schools and other commercial establishments. This usage has created a demand for a new type of supporting structure which is permanently or temporarily attached to the bottom of such appliances and furniture to prevent these objects from becoming bogged down in the floor covering and reducing immobility, and which provides a means of readily and easily moving the supported objects when desired.
No skid construction of which I am aware provides an extremely simple and inexpensive structure which can be adapted to support heavy objects having various configurations of bases and supporting frames on floor coverings having both soft and hard top surfaces and underlying pads, and which provides for the safe and easy sliding movement of the supported objects across such floor coverings.
Various laminated pad constructions have been developed in the past for a variety of applications, which constructions are formed of various material layers bonded together by an adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,646 shows a vibration absorbing member adapted to be mounted on the base of a machine consisting of upper and lower layers of a rubbery material for withstanding vibrations and shocks, with an intermediate rigid layer for spreading the vibrations across its surface to dampen the effects thereof. These vibration pads in turn are adapted to be cemented to the floor to prevent movement of the supported equipment. U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,408 discloses a laminated corner and edge protective cover formed by an intermediate layer of porous foam material which is covered by an outside cover or skin, which combination then is attached to an object by adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,447 shows another shock absorbing and load bearing structure for equipment and structures in which a metal plate is bonded between top and bottom layers of rubber, which laminations then are stacked to provide the load bearing elements. U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,073 discloses another type of laminated structure having upper and lower resin impregnated felt material with a thin elastomeric sheet preferably of rubber, being sandwiched between, with the laminations being bonded together by an adhesive. None of these structures, however, provide the particular laminated structure described below for supporting and moving a heavy object across various types of floor coverings.